POLICE have defended their response to a smash-and-grab raid on a town centre jewellers.

Cheshire Police took 20 minutes to attend the scene of the dramatic theft at P.R. Jones Watchmakers and Jewellers on Chestergate on Thursday, December 3.

A gang tried to ram-raid the shop before masked men jumped out of a car smashing the window with hammers and mallets.

The thieves sped off down Chestergate with stolen jewellery, narrowly missing a woman with the car.

But police say officers were sent out in pursuit of the criminals two minutes after the call came in - delaying time to attend the jewellers.

A spokeswoman said: "The first patrol cars were deployed to this incident within two minutes of receiving the 999 call. The information received by the call handlers indicated that the offenders had left the scene of the incident and were travelling out of the area."

She added patrols were sent to watch key routes and catch the criminals.

"Cheshire Police know that reassuring the victims of crime is extremely important to promote confidence in the police," she said.

"Chief Inspector Crowcroft from the Eastern Area Neighbourhood Policing Team spoke to the victim after the incident to offer reassurance and support. He also visited the scene after the incident in order to explain the course of action taken by the officers on the evening of the robbery. Cheshire Police recognise the value that an officer quickly deployed to reassure victims can have, and that this is necessary to give members of the public confidence in our response.

"Whilst officers were deployed in order to apprehend the offenders almost immediately, this did result in a delay of almost 20 minutes in an officer attending the scene to speak to the victim."

Detectives are still searching for the four offenders, who were wearing dark clothing with scarves, hoods and hats covering their faces. A red Fiat Marea was found dumped in the Whalley Hayes area.

If you have any information about the theft, contact police on 0845 458 0000 or the Crimestoppers hotline anonymously on 0800 555 111.